Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“I understand. Thank you, Father.”
He raised my hand and kissed it.
My glove was going to wear out at this rate.
“I believe Lord Leon is heading this way. Perhaps he wishes to have that dance he mentioned to you earlier.”
I looked up to see him approaching us through the crowd of people. “Do you approve of me getting closer to him?”
Father nodded. “I do.”
Lord Leon reached us and bowed his head. “Marquess Vermillion, I apologise if I’m interrupting your conversation.”
“Not at all,” Father said, raising his hand. “We just finished greeting Their Majesties and were about to part.”
He bobbed his head and turned to me. “In that case, Lady Alicia, may I—”
“Excuse me for interrupting, Marquess Vermillion.”
A new voice.
One I’d never heard before, yet one I seemed to know all the same.
“Your Highness,” Father said, bowing his head. “To what do we owe the honour?”
I turned at Father’s words as my heart did its stupid little thump thump thump again and my skin prickled.
Purple eyes.
Of course. Of course, it was him.
Perhaps there were parts of my fate that I couldn’t escape after all.
Chapter Nine
Dancing with the Devil
Grand Duke Kalon Stein focused his gaze on me, then gently held out his hand and lowered his head while keeping our eye contact. “Lady Alicia, may I have this dance?”
I drew in a deep breath.
I had no choice but to accept, and he knew I had no choice, even though Lord Leon was technically asking me first.
To refuse the Grand Duke for someone of lower stature would be taken as an insult, against both him and potentially the Imperial Family.
That was also why my father was boring a hole into the side of my head.
I placed my hand in his. “I would be honoured, Your Highness.” I quickly turned back to Leon and mouthed an, “I’m sorry,” before Kalon guided me into the bustling throng dancers.
If I’d ever been grateful for the memories that came along with this body, it was right here, right now. I could barely do the conga in my past life, so ballroom dancing would be out of the question if I didn’t have her knowledge.
It didn’t mean I’d be any good at it, but hopefully this body would remember.
I laid my hand on his shoulder, and Kalon clasped my waist. He took my other hand with his, curling his fingers around mine, and led me to start the dance.
He was taller than I thought. He easily stood a whole head above me—if he leant forwards a couple of inches, he could use the top of my head as a chin rest if he wished to.
And his shoulders.
If the rest of his body was as firm as his shoulder was, it was extremely unfair to just about every other man ever. He really was the perfect specimen of a romance novel hero, and despite how badly I didn’t want to be with him right now, I couldn’t help but wonder one thing.
Why the heck the author had chosen the Crown Prince to be Lillia’s endgame.
Maybe it was just my personal preferences, but Kalon was far better suited to be a romance hero than his brother was.
Then again, in the book, Kalon had been nothing but red flags. Even now, in this life, there were enough rumours about him for me to know he was a walking red flag.
Ah, well.
Red was my favourite colour. Especially when red looked like this man did.
Phew.
I had no idea I could be so thirsty over someone who could take another’s life so easily. It hit a bit differently when he was, you know—real. Right in front of me. Touching me.
Lusting over a red flag hero in fiction was one thing. It was something else entirely when that red flag hero was no longer part of a book, but my real life.
Was I going to stop undressing him in my head, though?
Absolutely not.
“I hope I didn’t get in the way of you spending time with Lord Leon Trelawney,” Kalon said, looking down at me.
“Of course not, Your Highness,” I replied politely, keeping my gaze fixed over his shoulder.
I was not going to fall into that trap of looking into his eyes.
Nuh-uh. No siree.
God only knew I was unlikely to climb my way back out of that particular spell.
“It looked as though he was about to ask you for a dance.”
“Is that why you interrupted him?” The words tumbled out of me before I could stop them, and I quickly cleared my throat. “I wasn’t aware that you were the sort to dance at these events.”
“I’m not.” He made a noise that might have been a laugh, if he were the type to laugh. “No. I interrupted him because I thought I might miss you afterwards, and I wanted to see the look on the Empress’ face when she saw me dancing with her top Crown Princess candidate before the Crown Prince could.”